What's your opinion on the best age gap between children

[EspressoMartiniBish]

Don't particularly want a child now but my daughter is already 2 and don't really want a big age gap! Having a dilemma

No more than 5

We were aiming for a 3 yr gap ,but ended up being nearer 3yrs 5 months.It worked well for us.DC1was thrilled to have a baby sibling and loved to help out. DC2 got my undivided attention when DC1 was at nursery from 9am-3pm.I didn't need a double buggy and only had 1 DC in nappies. They're adults now and still very close,visiting each other regularly ( live in different cities) and have been on several short break holidays together.

I hated having a two year school gap with my sister, but that was because she was a PITA about her exams always being more important than mine.

2.5-3.5 is the best age gap, in my opinion! They are old enough to do a small activity by themselves for twenty mins to give you time to feed the new baby and things but a great age gap that they will play together when they get a bit older!

Well the closer the gap the harder work it is for the first few years. You get the rewards down the line when they are at same stage and have similar interests. Activities are easier as would suit both etc.

I have 2 1/2 yrs age gap and that was because I cldnt have coped with a closer one. I actually wanted around 3 to 3 1/2 but well u can't plan these things like that. Got pregnant very quickly second time but first time took 10 months 🤷🏻‍♀️ My eldest was out of nappies, dummy was gone and was sleeping in her own bed/room when her little sister arrived so was perfect for us.

My sil has 4yr age gap and it's trickier as the little one can't do a lot of the same activities. She will in another year or 2 but at the moment she's too little for a lot of it. They are almost 3yr old and a 7yr old. Cinema is a no go, ice skating, trampoline park etc.

I have nearly 4 years between my two and it's a nice civilised gap. I've been able to treat the 2 dcs as individuals and give them plenty of one to one time (as dc1 was in nursery when dc2 was born), breastfed for 3+ years each, took them to lots of classes targeted to their development etc. I wouldn't have been able to do a lot of the baby/toddler activities they did if I had a small gap - swimming lessons, parent & toddler gymnastics, music and Gymboree. They have narrow age gaps for each stage (about 8 months) so you couldn't just bring 2 under 3s.

Plus I was able to support dc2 in free play at the playground and soft play while dc1 was sensible and played on her own or with friends - I often saw dcs running out in front of swings or getting stuck at the top of soft play because the mum couldn't supervise 2 toddlers/toddler and newborn at once.

DCs have had similar interests luckily but they are always in different classes due to age. But that would be the same even with some smaller age gaps, for things like gymnastics and swimming. Plus I've seen plenty of small gap siblings dragged around to the same after school clubs that the eldest enjoys, when the younger one isn't really interested but the parent has insisted they "like the same things" but it's really because it would be logistically impossible to take the sibling to a different activity anyway. Whereas with a bigger gap it's easier for the younger one to carve out their own interests as the older one can get themselves to activities after a certain age.